DE 10 2006 033 554 A1 describes a foldable vehicle seat. The known vehicle seat comprises a backrest and a cushion carrier for the seat cushion, wherein the cushion carrier is fastened to the backrest by means of a supporting part in such a manner that the cushion carrier may be pivoted about a first transverse axis relative to the backrest. In addition, a backrest pivoting mechanism is provided for the backrest, wherein the backrest is fastened to the backrest pivoting mechanism so that it is pivotable about a second transverse axis. In this case, the second transverse axis is fixed, i.e. it is disposed immovably inside the automobile unless the entire vehicle seat were to be shifted in the longitudinal or transverse directions inside the automobile. The backrest may now be pivoted from a usage position, in which the backrest is disposed substantially upright, frontward about the second transverse axis into a nonusage position, in which the backrest is disposed substantially horizontally above the seat portion. The cushion carrier of the seat portion is thereby connected in such a manner to the backrest via the supporting part and to the vehicle floor via a two-link seat portion pivoting mechanism such that due to the movement of the backrest from the usage position into the nonusage position, the cushion carrier is moved from a first position into a second position, wherein in the second position, the cushion carrier is displaced rearward and lowered compared with the first position. Due to the rearward and downward displacement of the cushion carrier, in the nonusage position the backrest can approximately occupy the place that had previously been occupied by the seat cushion carrier of the seat portion, so that the vehicle seat in the nonusage position only takes up little space inside the vehicle.
The previously described known vehicle seat, however, has the disadvantage that the vehicle seat in the nonusage position still extends relatively far forward in the seat direction, even when the seat portion or the seat cushion carrier was displaced rearward by the pivoting movement. Thus, the known vehicle seat, for example, cannot be arranged in the second or third seat row of an automobile if the seat front located in front in each case is disposed relatively close to that seat row in which the known vehicle seat is located. In such a case, a collision could occur between the backrest of the vehicle seat and the backrest of another vehicle seat in the seat row located in front thereof. In addition, it is desirable in some cases that the seat portion is displaced further rearward inside the automobile when the vehicle seat is located in the nonusage position. Furthermore, the backrest in the nonusage position takes up a large amount of space in the height direction.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an automobile seat which overcomes the previously specified disadvantages, which has a relatively simple structure, and can be folded in a particularly space-saving manner into a nonusage position. In addition, other objects, desirable features, and characteristics will become apparent from the subsequent summary and detailed description, and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background.